Video 3:58
Fury over rape of child

Michael EdwardsUpdated
Tue 23 Apr 2013, 11:18 PM AEST

Angry protestors in Delhi furios about the rape of a 5 year old have demanded better protection for women and girls.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: There have been mass protests in the Indian capital after yet another horrific case of rape. Two men have been arrested over a brutal attack on a five year old girl last week. Sexual assault and rape laws in India have been toughened up this year but demonstrators still feel the Government isn't doing enough to protect women and girls. South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards visited the New Delhi slum where the rape took place and filed this report for Lateline.

MICHAEL EDWARDS, REPORTER: Gandhinagar is a working class area in East Delhi. The crowded suburb is home to thousands of people, most of them poor labourers earning only a few dollars a day. Children play here unsupervised while their parents are at work. But their smiles don't seem to reflect the dangers that lurk here. Just a few days ago a five year old girl was playing outside this building. It was here that two men snatched her, dragging her down into a small dark room in its basement. It's believed they lured her with a bag of chips. Locals showed Lateline where the crime took place. Was it here?

BOY: Yes.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: In there? That's, that's the room? It's locked. But inside this room, which is down, down in a basement in a lower middle class area of East Delhi, the five year old girl was kept without food and water over the course of two days. There it's alleged two men raped her repeatedly, stabbed her and bashed her in a manner which left her fighting for her life. No one heard her screams even though her family lived just one floor above. Scared of retribution by their landlord, most of the other tenants were reluctant to go on camera. But Vijay knew the family and spoke of his disgust.

VIJAY (TRANSLATION): The strongest punishment should be given so that in future people do not think of doing such things. The law should give them a punishment so harsh the public do not commit such crime.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: As the girl lies in hospital, public anger is again mounting over India's poor record when it comes to sexual assault. New Delhi's Police Commissioner is under pressure to resign.

SUPRIYA, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The seriousness doesn't seem to have really hit the system. The seriousness of the issue does not seem to have hit the system at all.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Protestors burnt the effigy of the interior minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, for what they see as his inability to protect the country's women and children. Three policemen have been suspended amid allegations they ignored the girl's parents when they reported her missing, and then offered them a bribe to keep quiet about it once the case became public. The latest scenes were reminiscent of protests across India last December in the wake of the gang rape and murder of a 23 year old student. Jantar Mantar in the centre of New Dheli has become the focal point for the anger. Here demonstrators scream for justice.

NANDINI, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Violence against women, down, down.

PROTESTERS: Down, down, down, down.

NANDINI: Furious. We're reaching a, we're reaching a point where we don't understand why there's so much violence, why is it increasing and why is it the mindset is simply doesn't seem to be changing.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The anger has forced the Government's hand. After the Delhi gang rape, it passed laws toughening the penalties for rape. But in light of the recent attack, scepticism remains whether these laws will make any difference.

PURNIMA, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: We have law but I think there's a need for the implementation. It should reach to the people and this judgment procedure should be fast and police should be more sensitive.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The horrific nature of the rape has shocked a country that's used to almost a daily diet of news about sexual assaults. There's been at least four other rapes in New Delhi over the past few days. At least one was on a girl under the age of five.